All evidentiary questions begin with Rule 402, which contains the general principle that "[r]elevant evidence is admissible" and "[i]rrelevant evidence is not." Rule 401 defines relevant evidence as that which is both probative (having "any tendency to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence") and material (the fact must be "of consequence in determining the action"). US v. Gomez, 763 F. 3d 845 (7th Cir. 2014).
Rule 401 of the Federal Rules of Evidence defines "relevant evidence" as "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Fed. R.Evid. 401. "Evidence may be 'relevant' under Rule 401's definition, even if it fails to prove or disprove the fact at issue — whether taken alone or in combination with all other helpful evidence on that issue." United States v. Candelaria-Silva, 162 F.3d 698, 704 (1st Cir.1998) (quoting United States v. Schneider, 111 F.3d 197, 202 (1st Cir.1997)). US v. Guzman-Montanez, 756 F. 3d 1 (1st Cir. 2014).
Relevant evidence may nevertheless be excluded "if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of one or more of the following: unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence." Fed. R. Evid. 403. Ayers v. City of Cleveland, (6th Cir. 2014).
Rule 404(b) provides that "[e]vidence of a crime, wrong, or other act is not admissible to prove a person's character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character." Fed. R.Evid. 404(b)(1). This rule reflects the longstanding concern that evidence of prior bad acts, when offered only to show the defendant's propensity to commit the charged crime, "is said to weigh too much with the jury and to so overpersuade them as to prejudice one with a bad general record and deny him a fair opportunity to defend against a particular charge." Sampson, 980 F.2d at 886 (quoting Michelson, 385 U.S. at 475, 69 S.Ct. 213). US v. Caldwell, 760 F. 3d 267 (3rd Cir. 2014).
Rule 404(b) sets forth both the prohibited and (in non-exhaustive terms) the permitted uses for evidence of "crimes, wrongs, or other acts." Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) (capitalization altered). Such evidence [ ] is admissible if offered "for another purpose, such as proving motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident." Id. (emphasis added). "Rule 404(b) is considered to be an inclusive rule, admitting all evidence of other crimes or acts except that which tends to prove only criminal disposition." United States v. Burgess, 576 F.3d 1078, 1098 (10th Cir.2009) (quoting United States v. Tan, 254 F.3d 1204, 1208 (10th Cir.2001)) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also United States v. Parker, 553 F.3d 1309, 1314 (10th Cir. 2009) ("The standard for satisfying Rule 404(b) admissibility is permissive...."); United States v. Segien, 114 F.3d 1014, 1022 (10th Cir.1997) ("[R]ule [404(b)] is one of inclusion, rather than exclusion...."), overruled on other grounds as recognized in United States v. Hathaway, 318 F.3d 1001, 1006 (10th Cir.2003). US v. Watson, 766 F. 3d 1219 (10th Cir. 2014).
THIS CASEBOOK contains a selection of 31 U. S. Court of Appeals decisions that analyze and interpret the test for relevance under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The selection of decisions spans from 2011 to the date of publication. The statutory text and Committee notes to Rules of Evidence 401 through 404 are also included.